FRANK MCCOMB - LIVE AT THE BITTER END: REMEMBERING DONNY HATHAWAY
There's
nobody better we can think of to pay tribute to Donny Hathaway than Frank
McComb – given that both Frank's wonderful vocals and keyboard work draw a lot
from Donny's originals of the 70s, but have always taken his inspiration in
really rich new directions on McComb's recent albums! Yet here, Frank really
gets back to basics – and plays live at The Bitter End, in a warmly intimate
style that's reminiscent of the classic Donnie Hathaway Live album of the 70s –
although even more personal, given that the set only features Frank solo, on
both acoustic and electric piano – but with a fullness that's amazing, and
which really makes us keep imagining a bigger band behind him. McComb performs
great versions of "Someday We'll All Be Free", "Love Love
Love", "Flying Easy", "A Song For All", and "You
Were Meant For Me" – plus his own "We'll Carry Your Name On", a
tribute to Donny. The CD also closes with a version of "Little Ghetto
Boy" played with backing from a bigger group, too. ~ Dusty Groove.
FRANK MCCOMB - LIVE IN JOHANNESBURG
Wonderful
work from one of the greatest living soul singers we can think of – the vastly
under-recognized Frank McComb – an artist we'd rank right up there with our
favorite talents from the 70s! Frank's amazing in this live setting – working
with heavy Fender Rhodes alongside his vocals, in a warm and jazzy blend that's
somewhere between Donny Hathaway and Webster Lewis – really stretched out on these
long tracks that are even more expressive and evocative than Frank's work in
the studio! No surprise, McComb serves up a remake of Hathaway's "The
Ghetto" with a new Soweto twist – and other tracks include "Another
Day", "Left Alone", "Contact", and "Do You
Remember Love". CD also fetures two bonus tracks – "The Way I
Feel" and "I Can Feel The Spirit". ~ Dusty Groove.
LEVEL 10 - VECTOR
Suddenly,
Latin Jazz seems reawakened with an uplifting positive message, Level 10
bridges the past elements of Jazz with new sounds that are bubbling up to the
surface of the entertainment scene. Smooth
Jazz has started to take a turn with the introduction of new musical flavors
that embrace purely positive uplifting sound. Often
criticized as palatable groove-based music smooth jazz is evolving into a new
category yet to be defined. Levy DeAndrade, composer and founder of Level 10,
stated, “We have a new generation of fans looking for a sound that we have been
creating for years that is much more than an electronic gimmickry.” Level
10’s “Vector” arrives as one of the jazz albums of the year displaying stellar
technique and refreshing original compositions that brush aside any notion of
jazz being in a rut. Brazilian and Cuban beats married with a funky attitude
and an intense lyrical sense of purpose that hearken back to some of the early
Spyro Gyra records.What
makes Level 10’s work different aside from the obvious prolific instrumental
talent of this global jazz collective is that no one is attacking this niche in
the market with the same type of confidence that Level 10 brings to the table. “While
some artists attempt to refer to their own Latin vibe while simply adding
nothing more than a cowbell to their more than predictable arsenal, Level 10
lays down layers of flavor and musical colors one can hear.” said Jazz critic
Brent Black. ~ http://level10band.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment